


Froze Your Heart

by sonus



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Hyunjin works with Chan, Jeongin works with Minho, M/M, No Angst, Some cameos, Strangers to Lovers, and an unhealthy amount of blueberries, both cats and dogs, occult shop employee Minho, there are so many animals here, there is a cult at some point, yogurt shop employee Chan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-10-27 15:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20762681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonus/pseuds/sonus
Summary: Chan doesn't expect much from his summer job at a yogurt shop. Just some children screaming to make his days better and a few annoying teens here and there.What he certainly doesn't expect is a dressed in black employee of the nearby occult shop who is addicted to blueberry yogurts.And maybe, more importantly, he doesn't expect to get involved in cults and other crazy things. Yet he does.Chan blames Hyunjin and Hyunjin blames Minho's irresistible smile.(Guess who's telling the truth.)





	Froze Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaand another fic fest finished!!
> 
> I'm so happy I made it, I was so happy when I saw that there was a fest for skz that I jumped on the idea and well...lets just say i had some troubles with finishing but yay it's here!!!
> 
> big thanks to my cheering team i love you guys<33
> 
> also... to the prompter if they are even reading this: i'm not too sure how your sweet and cute prompt transformed into this 13k monster. i'm shocked too.
> 
> Anyway, i feel like i added so much stuff here that the prompt itself is not as visible as i would have liked but i'm still proud of this so i hope you will enjoy it as well :D (i promise it's there, i just lost control haha)
> 
> The prompt:
> 
> 'A works at a frozen yogurt shop and is kind of scared at the frozen sweet addict B who works at the occult shop down/across the street. After spending some time together A begins to realize maybe B isn't that bad, in fact... he's kinda cute.'
> 
> To anyone else who clicks on this just to read some regular minchan: i hope you enjoy the ride!!
> 
> Happy reading :D

It all starts about a week after Chan lands himself his second summer job. The first one he gets is at a supermarket but he quickly learns that the manager there isn’t really a fan of him and after a two weeks test period he gets fired. Jokes on the manager, his second job is actually better paid.

And well, definitely more interesting.

There are a lot of consumers most of the time. Apparently, frozen yogurts are a summer hit.  
Chan doesn’t really see the appeal of them, he much more prefers ice cream but if it gives him money for the next year in university he isn’t complaining.

Even if the money comes from a boy who works at a nearby occult shop.

The guy is definitely addicted to frozen yogurts if that’s even possible.

He has visited every single day for two weeks now and maybe Chan would be worried about the boy's heath if not for the fact that he not only looks like he works in an occult shop but also as if is in a cult with tattoos and all-black clothes even in the middle of the summer.

The shop's inter-area is small. There are only about three white wood tables with a bunch of chairs around them.

Chan knows that most of the people just pick up their orders and disappear outside not paying much attention to the bright pink walls or the many framed photos of rabbits in the shop. Yes, the owner is a weirdo.

Overall, people prefer to eat their frozen yogurts with friends in parks or on some benches in the quieter streets.

Most, because there is an exception to the rule. Chan thinks there always is one and well, most of the time it's what makes the world so interesting.

This exception, however, Chan does not like. 

The bell on the door rings for the nth time this day and Chan lifts up his head to welcome the new customer with a smile on his face but upon seeing who it is he instantly freezes.

It’s the occult boy again, today dressed in a dark gray top and black, ripped jeans.

Chan knows he is staring but he can't tear his gaze away from him. He looks around the shop like he is expecting to meet someone here or like one would look at a place they see for the first time. Which, in this case, would be bullshit.

So Chan looks around too, expecting to find another boy in dark clothes or maybe a girl matching the boy's occult look. But there is no one like that in the shop and Chan should have known this already since he is on the shift alone and he would have had to take their order.

The occult boy finally steps up to the counter.  
"The usual?" Chan asks, already writing the order down.

"You remember?" the boy asks as he leans in and casually rests his head on his hand which is already propped on the counter.

Chan lifts his gaze and their eyes meet. He raises his eyebrows and the other boy smiles at him. The normally sweet gesture has an edge to it and Chan can't help but think how much it fits the whole dark vibe.

"You come here every day and order the same thing. I think I would have to pretty stupid to forget it," he deadpans in hopes of getting rid of that smile from the other's face.

"Not true. I'm not there on the weekends."

Chan looks at the boy, unimpressed.  
"Do you even work?" he asks as he grabs a cup with an intention of finally starting on the order.

"I do. I mostly work the second shift."

That would explain why it's always Chan who has to deal with him and never Hyunjin, who works the second shift more often than not.

They don't talk anymore after this and he finishes the yogurt in peace before handing it to the other.

"There you go," Chan says in the nicest tone possible.  
The occult boy smiles again and heads to sit at his favorite spot near the door.

Chan sighs but doesn't have more time to contemplate because right this second the bell above the door rings again and a bunch of high schoolers burst through it and make their way to the counter.

Maybe this job is better paid and actually nicer but dealing with so many noisy kids is not something Chan enjoys.  
He sighs again and gets to work as the occult boy smirks at him from his table.

✰✰✰

Between Chan's morning and Hyunjin's afternoon shift they usually close the shop for about half an hour to get everything under control.

The shop looks definitely better without all the colorful stains the children made in the morning and that one big sticky place on one of the tables Chan wasn't even aware of before.

And so, they get to cleaning.

Chan grabs a cloth and makes his way to the first of the tables while Hyunjin goes for a mop to clean the floors.

The silence that settles over them is comfortable, they have known each other for ages, but there's something on Chan's mind that won't let him clean peacefully so he decides to talk about it with the younger.

"The guy from the occult shop. He is always here," Chan says while taking off his apron. "Every day. And he always gets the same thing too. Extra-large with blueberries and chocolate. The thing is so dark it fits perfectly."

There is silence and Chan turns his attention to where Hyunjin is supposed to be mopping the floor.

The younger stands there, mop in one hand, expression blank as he stares back at Chan.

"You sound like you are obsessed with him," he deadpans and goes back to work.

This time it's Chan who freezes in surprise. It's true that the work at the shop is rather boring and he is able to admit that the occult boy is one of the only things keeping it mildly interesting. But calling it a obsession is too much.

Maybe he wants to know more about him.

Or maybe he just wants to make sure he won't get cursed by him.

Or maybe, just maybe, it's a little bit of both.

"Maybe you should try going to the occult shop," Chan starts as casually as he can. He knows he won't escape Hyunjin's questioning gaze but maybe if he is casual enough about it then the younger won't get any wrong ideas.

Oh, how Chan wishes it was the case.

"You want _me_ to go and check if they are sacrificing people for some cult activities?" Hyunjin asks with raised eyebrows. "I thought better of you hyung and there you are, wanting me to go sacrifice myself in your place."

Chan wants to scream at how dramatic Hyunjin is but he keeps his mouth shut. He needs the younger to do him this favor.

"That's wrong on so many levels," he says finally and Hyunjin laughs at the look on his face. “It’s just because he doesn’t know you and he for sure would recognize me.”

"Fine, fine I'll do it but only if you promise me free yogurts if I ever want them," Hyunjin says and when Chan furrows his eyebrows the younger just shrugs. "You never know when you will need free yogurts am I right."

"I'm not convinced but sure if you want that," Chan says in hopes that Hyunjin will forget this because otherwise, his wallet will be in big trouble.

"It's settled then. I'm gonna go today just after I finish and then send you everything I've learned," Hyunjin states and ties his apron before disappearing into the the back room of the shop.

'_Is it too early to regret this decision yet?_' Chan wonders when fresh air hits his face as soon as he sets foot outside.

It probably is and so Chan fights the urge to pull his phone out and text Hyunjin to call the whole thing off. Instead, he forces his legs to finally take him home.

✰✰✰

It’s almost 8 p.m when he hears from his younger coworker again. He is playing on his phone, trying to kill time when the message he has been waiting for finally comes.

‘_i’m alive,_’ it reads and Chan rolls his eyes as he imagines Hyunjin out on the dark streets of Seoul, phone in hand and a smirk on his face.

He taps the ‘reply’ button but before he can type anything a new set of messages from Hyunjin comes in.

‘_your guy's name is minho and, surprise surprise, he isn’t evil and he doesn’t do any occult things apart from working at this shop._’

‘_the shop is pretty normal too, nothing really strange about it, just a bunch of dark-colored things and scented candles._'

Chan sighs and opens a new message to reply to Hyunjin. He doesn’t know what he expected. For Minho to be involved in some kind of cult? Or maybe Hyunjin was right all along and he just wanted an excuse to know more about him.

‘_figured. thanks for doing this hyunjin._’

‘_you still own me hyung. oh and his coworker, hyung i’m in love i’m not joking._’

The last one makes Chan frown but he blames it on Hyunjin’s dramatic behavior and decides not to think too much into it, it’s probably nothing. The chances are the younger won't even remember about this the next day.

But that conversation makes him feel better and there's this voice at the back of his head telling him that, maybe, just maybe he should get to know Minho more. The other doesn't seem so scary anymore.

✰✰✰

The next day it turns out Chan was so wrong.

He comes to the shop to Hyunjin already there stood behind the counter. He waves at the younger before making his way to the room at the back to get changed into his work clothes.

It's one of those rare days when he is on the afternoon shift and he briefly wonders if Minho already visited the shop today.

It's only when he comes out to stand beside Hyunjin and wait till the counter is free of customers and they can start their scheduled cleaning when he is reminded of the younger's texts from the day before.

"So hyung," is what Hyunjin greets him with. No good afternoon or even a hello. "What did you think about my messages from yesterday."

Chan rolls his eyes and gets to cleaning. This time he is the one to grab the mop and he throws Hyunjin the cloth.

"I answered you already didn't I," he says and this time it's Hyunjin's turn to roll his eyes. The younger's roll has definitely a more dramatic aspect to it which makes Chan sigh and stop his mopping.

"Not _that_. I'm talking about the last text and you totally ignored that one," Hyunjin states and his voice gets a little sulky at the end.

Oh, so Chan did miscalculate. Usually, when the younger has thought somebody was cute or for a lack of a better name for it, was in love, it lasted a few hours, a day at best.

How was Chan supposed to know this time will be different? Why was it different?

He throws the younger a suspicions look.  
"Are you sure they don't know any spells?" he asks. That would have explained Hyunjin's behavior perfectly.

"Minho and Jeongin?" Hyunjin laughs as if the suggestion was too funny and the older doesn't even bother asking who that Jeongin boy is. He thinks he has a pretty good idea already. "No way hyung, don't be ridiculous."

"Okay if you say so," Chan says and then after a minute of thought he adds. "Tell me something about Jeongin then."

Hyunjin's face lights up like Chan has just asked him about his favorite photographer or offered the younger a free meal. He knows this gaze well enough to know this is somehow serious.

"I'm so glad you asked," Hyunjin says with a pure and bright smile on his face.

Chan spends the whole cleaning break listening to Hyunjin's non stop talk and he has to admit that for knowing someone approximately one day the younger knew a hell lot of about Jeongin.

Asked about it Hyunjin answers with "We have actually talked for a while. I think I have spent almost an hour there." After which a completely new question forms in Chan's head. Do they ever work over at the occult shop?

After listening to Hyunjin talking so warmly about both Jeongin and Minho for over 20 minutes he thinks that maybe he should go and check that out himself.

✰✰✰

It turns out that Minho, in fact, has not visited the shop yet that day. He walks in, back straightened, dark clothes in place and a small smile on his face just about 20 minutes after the start of Chan's shift.

Chan doesn't know if the other has some kind of a seventh sense but he must say that he is impressed by his ability to always show up when he is working.

As Minho makes his way to the counter and places his order, or more like just says "Hi" because Chan has already started preparing it, he thinks how strange but at the same time nice it is to finally have a name for the face he sees every day.

"Thank you," Minho says with his usual smile in place before grabbing the yogurt and unlike any other time instead of the table near the window he heads toward the door.

But before the boy in dark clothes can reach it he stops.

"Oh," Minho turns his head a little and smirks. "You didn't have to send a spy to my shop to get my name. All you had to do was ask."

Chan stares at the other.  
"A _what_ now?" he asks and rolls his eyes at the ridiculous claim.

"That coworker of yours who visited my shop yesterday and talked with _my_ coworker. Hyunjin was it?" Minho says, the smirk still present on his face.

Chan feels dumbfounded. How did the other know that Hyunjin was his coworker? He was pretty sure Minho never visited the yogurt shop while the younger worked.

"Don't this about it that hard it's not that deep. The kid was still wearing his apron. Oh and by the way can you pass a message to him? Jeongin says hi and also he told me he wouldn't mind if Hyunjin visited again if you know what I mean."

Chan did know but he didn't like it one bit.  
But with that Minho finally turns back to the door and disappears into the evening rush outside.

Chan stands there for a moment, at a loss for words until a new customer comes in and makes his way to the counter to order. He finally snaps out of it but as soon as the time for his break comes he grabs his phone and types out a message for Hyunjin.

'_why did you go in there in your uniform hyunjin_.'

It takes about ten minutes for the younger to reply.  
'_ops?_'

Chan sighs. At least he knows now that Minho is not going to hex him or some other stupid stuff that his imagination has created.

✰✰✰

The next week passes in peace. Of course, Minho still visits the shop daily, ordering the same dark yogurt each time but other than that nothing out of the ordinary happens.

But of course, peace and quiet are too boring in the long run so the universe decides to bring chaos into Chan's life once more on a warm Wednesday morning.

For some odd reason, Hyunjin decides to come hang around the shop even though his shift doesn't start for another two hours.

Chan knows better than to question the younger too much so after a simple "I got bored at home and everyone is busy." he drags a chair from the back room for Hyunjin to sit on while he prepares the orders.

Minho has already visited that day, they have even chatted a little and for someone who is simply his customer Chan guesses he knows a lot about the other.

He knows Minho is younger. He knows he goes to uni as well, but isn't the biggest fan of his course, have chosen it for his parents more than himself.

"It's fine, I'm still happy with it because I don't actually hate it."

And he knows about Minho's biggest interest which makes the younger's eyes lit up like Christmas lights. Which turns out to be cats.

Chan doesn't really get him. A law mayor working in an occult shop with the biggest soft spot for cats. But on the other hand, he supposes everyone is a bit of a mystery if you look at them from afar so it's okay.

It's quite easy to get lost in his thoughts and forget about Hyunjin's presence when all he is doing is preparing some yogurts.

Well, that is until there is a loud commotion behind him which makes his head snap to look at what's going on.

There he finds his younger coworker practically lying on the floor with a terrified look on his face.

"Shit hyung!" Hyunjin exclaims in a hushed voice.

Chan finally turns fully to his friend who is now sitting on the floor instead of the chair.  
"Hyunjin what the _fuck_ are you doing down there?" he whispers so that none of the customers would hear their encounter.

“_Jeongin_,” Hyunjin hisses under his breath and Chan feels his eyebrows rise past his hairline.

“Jeongin?” he asks and as soon as the words leave his mouth Hyunjin’s hands fly up in an attempt to stop him from saying more.

“Shhh,” Hyunjin hisses again and throws a look over Chan’s shoulder. The older fights the urge to look over at what’s happening behind him. “He is here.”

Chan raises his eyebrows, curious.  
“Jeongin?” he asks in a quiet voice so that the said boy hopefully wouldn’t hear him.

“Yes, now stop repeating his name.”

Chan rolls his eyes at Hyunjin. The boy is still sitting on the floor in a corner, trying to make himself as small as possible so that Jeongin won’t spot him.

“Are you going to come out of there or?” Chan asks the younger with a light laugh. It’s kind of funny to see Hyunjin so flustered because of the occult shop boy.

“_No way_,” Hyunjin whispers and there is probably no point in asking why so Chan doesn’t and just turns back to the counter with a “Whatever” on his lips.

There, he is greeted with a face not very far away from his own.

The boy before him is undoubtedly younger with pinkish blond hair and a dimpled smile. He looks happy and cute so Chan smiles at him in return.

It takes one look down at the boy's clothes for Chan’s smile to deflect a little but he fights to keep it in place for Hyunjin’s sake.

They are all black with occasional gray here and there. Chan knows this style way too well now. He has been looking at a person who dresses similarly every day for weeks now.

“What can I get for you?” he asks and picks up his pen, ready to write the younger’s order down.

Jeongin looks around for a moment and then at the menu written over Chan’s head on a blackboard.  
“I’m not sure. My coworker recommended this place but I have no idea what to order. Mango one with blueberries maybe?”

Chan notes that down and sighs. That damned blueberries.  
“Anything else? A drink maybe?”

“Actually,” Jeongin hesitates and his smile deflects a little. Chan furrows his brows, pen frozen just above his notebook. “I was wondering if you know when Hyunjin will be working?”

Chan doesn’t even have to fake his surprise. His mouth opens slightly at the younger’s question because, even though, Minho said that Jeongin was intrigued by Hyunjin Chan wasn’t sure if the other was joking or not. Well, until now.

He is about to answer that, in fact, he knows when Hyunjin works when he feels something pulling at his leg.

He looks down to find Hyunjin there, eyes already burning holes in his head and when the younger sees that he got Chan’s attention he shakes his head lightly.

‘_Don’t tell him_,’ is the message Chan gets from it and even though he wonders _why_ he still mimics Hyunjin’s head shake when he turns his attention back to Jeongin.

“Sorry but I’m not sure,” he lies smoothly and Jeongin gives him a bright smile. It contrasts with his dark clothes so much that Chan starts to wonder if they are just the occult shop’s uniform or the boy’s own choice.

“Thanks anyway. Can you pass a message for me? Tell him to visit, I want to show him our new candles,” Chan just stands there, his mind trying to process what the other is saying. Good thing he won’t have to pass anything along because he is sure Hyunjin can hear it. “Oh and also. Maybe you can visit too, Minho hyung talks about you a lot.”

_That_ makes Chan wonder what exactly Minho has been saying about him but there is a line forming after Jeongin and so he just nods and forces another smile.

“Maybe one day. Now let me get that yogurt for you.”

He has so many questions.

✰✰✰

Sometimes Chan feels like he is cursed. Most of the time his days are good and uneventful but when one thing goes wrong then so does everything else.

For the most part, he doesn’t mind taking the evening shifts. Especially when Hyunjin specifically asks for the switch, like today.

Hyunjin appears in his doorway at around 7 a.m which is strange in itself but Chan doesn’t question it. They go to the kitchen where the younger finally lets out his request to switch shifts. There’s apparently something Hyunjin’s mother needs help with this afternoon. It explains why Hyunjin comes there this early in the morning.

Chan nods as he listens to his coworker. Hyunjin looks a little shaken up and there’s no way he will decline his offer.

“Hyung I swear I’ll make it in time to help you close, I know are busy preparing for the new academic year,” Hyunjin says with pleading eyes.

Truth to be told Chan _is_ trying to prepare for the upcoming hell that the next year at university is going to be but he is yet to make any progress. He is way too distracted by the shop, the sun and of course Minho. But he knows he _needs_ this break for himself and the papers will still be there when he comes back to study.

“It’s fine Hyunjin. I really don’t mind,” he says and Hyunjin’s eyes light up. He throws his hand in the air and waves.

“Thank you hyung! See you later for the closing!” he yells and in the next second, he is out of Chan’s apartment.

Chan sighs and instead of making that cup of coffee he wanted to drink he decides to go back to his room and sleep a little bit more.

✰✰✰

Somehow Minho uses his seventh sense again and appears in the shop again in the evening instead of his usual morning visit.

He gives Chan a smirk as he approaches the counter.  
“Are you stalking me?” Chan throws at the younger as soon as he stops before him. Minho laughs lightly. “You always appear during my shifts even when they are suddenly in the evening.”

Minho struggles and looks at the menu like he wasn’t about to order the same thing he always does.

“I’m gonna get started on your order,” Chan says and the younger’s gaze shifts back to him.  
“Thanks.”

“You can go sit,” Chan adds when the younger doesn’t move from the counter and instead just stands there, his eyes still on Chan.

“Yeah right,” he finally says and makes his way to his favorite table.

Chan rolls his eyes and gets to work. There’s no one here apart from Minho so he can simply deliver his yogurt to the table.

When he works there is something bugging him. He can’t pinpoint what it is until it hits him like a ton of bricks.

The whole shop is getting darker and darker each second and even though it’s the evening shift it’s not that late yet. The sun shouldn’t be setting that early.

The true source of the strange feeling finally hits him as he gets from behind the counter to deliver the yogurt to Minho who already got lost in something on his phone and wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings.

The door outside shakes lightly as the first lightning strikes. It makes Minho jump a little in his seat and tear his gaze from the phone in his hands to look at what’s happening.

Chan stops in his tracks to look at the darkness that has taken over the world and all he can think is ‘_Oh shit, I guess I’m not going home early after all_’.

"I don't think you will be able to get out now," Chan says slowly, eyeing the storm happening outside. It's going strong and brutal, bending trees like they were mere branches and Chan can imagine it sweeping Minho away the moment the younger steps outside.

Maybe a few weeks ago he wouldn't really care (although Chan would never set someone up for death), but things had changed and Minho doesn't seem so scary or strange anymore.

Minho turns his head to observe the situation outside too and a grimace appears on his lips.  
"I was supposed to help Jeongin close tonight," he says, resignation slipping into his voice.  
They both know he won't be able to do that.

"Just text him you won't be coming. I'm pretty sure he won't be able to get out himself anyway."

Minho nods shortly before pulling his phone out of the pocket of his jeans again and tapping at it a few times. He then lays it down next to himself and lifts his eyes to Chan again.

"What about you? Isn't your shift ending at 8 pm?" he asks and Chan sighs.  
It's true but what can he do when there's no way they can go outside.

"I'm staying in here too, obviously. Hyunjin was supposed to come and help me close today but I won't make him come just to get stuck with us," he has already texted the younger who was actually sad he won't be working tonight, because according to him, he won't be able to catch Jeongin on his way from work.  
Kids these days.

"_Oh_," Minho says slowly and raises his eyebrows. "You would rather be stuck here with me _alone_?"

Chan feels his face flush with embarrassment. He knows Minho is just trying to annoy him like he always does but a voice in his head tells him that in fact, he doesn't mind spending God knows how long alone with this once scary occult shop employee. There is something that makes him interesting apart from his yogurt addiction.

He doesn't grace the younger with an answer and Minho just rolls his eyes and shifts his gaze to his phone.

"Jeongin said it's fine and that he can manage closing it now," Minho reads and with each word that comes out of his mouth his frown deepens. "What does he mean by closing it _now_?"

Chan looks outside to where he knows the occult shop both Minho and Jeongin work at is. It's invisible in the rain and he feels a chill run down his spine.

"Maybe he will do some magic to get out of there. You guys work at an occult shop," Chan says half-jokingly. Truth to be told, Jeongin's sweet smiles can be deceiving but when he has them on his face when he talks about various cults around the world Chan feels unsettled. He doesn't know what's there that makes Hyunjin crush on the younger but he is sure he isn't seeing the whole picture.

Minho, on the other hand, seems like the guy who works there just for fun and with his strange character and a mystery aura he just fits in.

"Yeah sure," Minho rolls his eyes and laughs.

After that they do what they are pretty good at. They talk.

Minho decides to fill the long hours of darkness and occasional flashes of lightning outside with countless stories of strange occurrences at the occult shop. Some of them are so bizarre that Chan has trouble believing them completely.

Like for example that one about a guy who claimed one of their books was incomplete because it didn’t feature a detailed guide on how to sacrifice someone to the ‘dark lord’. It sounds stupid and like something that maybe did happen but the smirk with which Minho tells it makes Chan doubt the younger’s words.

But whether the stories are actually true or not or maybe somewhere in the middle, a little bit exaggerated by Minho to seem crazier and fitting, they do their job good. Somewhere in the middle of it all Chan forgets about the storm happening outside, the loud noises of the thunder nothing more than background music.

“Thank you for keeping me company,” he says at the end of it when the storm has finally calmed down enough for the two of them to go home.

“Did you forget I didn’t have a choice?” Minho asks and Chan gives him an unimpressed look. “But don’t worry from all the people I could have been stuck with, I’m glad it was you.”

“Yeah,” Chan says as he lets them out into the fresh and cold night air. “I’m glad too.”

✰✰✰

It’s after that storm accident that Chan decides to finally visit the occult shop himself.

In a way, it is strange that he has never been there before considering how much time he spends on that street.

He often comes to work too early and if the day is nice enough he usually prefers to spend the few minutes he has to spare looking into other shops within the walking distance.

Which, in theory, should also include the occult shop that Minho works at but for some reason, he has always avoided it. Well, until today.

Chan comes to work half an hour early and since he is on the opening shift no one is there when he quickly comes to the shop to drop off his things before heading out again.

His steps are confident as he heads towards the shop at the end of the street.

It’s easily distinguishable and you wouldn’t miss it even if you wanted too. The name of the shop, ‘Black Cat’, is written across the windows in sparkly black letters.

The inside itself is dark too, with dark wooden shelves and black curtains hanging sadly over the wall behind the counter.

As soon as Chan steps inside a bell rings and a light-haired head turns in his direction.

He kind of did expect to see Jeongin here instead of Minho. After all Chan still has his own shift in about 15 minutes and he knows the younger will be there as soon as he sets everything up for the opening.

Jeongin smiles and gestures for him to come closer and Chan complies.  
The younger’s outfit is dark as always with a plain black t-shirt and a black apron with some purple pentagrams and silver cats across it.

“Chan hyung! You finally came. But I’m afraid Minho hyung is not there,” he says and nods at the shelves. “He has the afternoon shift.”

“I know,” Chan looks around, interested in what kind of things the shop sells. “He is always in the yogurt shop when I’m on my shift so I figured since my shift starts soon I won’t meet him here.”

“Then,” Jeongin smiles a small smile. It looks a little wicked. “Let me show you around.”

✰✰✰

It takes another two days for Chan to feel like everything is finally going smoothly again.  
After the tour of the occult shop, he comes back to start his shift with a conclusion he kind of expected at this point.

There is nothing special and magical about Minho’s workplace. Sure, the large range of black and purple candles is impressive and Chan would have never guessed there are so many dark related scents but that's about it.

The shop is cool but definitely not a real witchcraft store. Which is, of course, the only logical conclusion.

But for some reason life just can’t leave Chan alone to complete his holidays in peace.

This time trouble comes in the form of his coworker. And it’s worse than usual.

“Channie hyung,” Hyunjin says, voice almost melodic.

They are at the back of the shop, Chan dressing up to start his shift.  
“Hasn’t your shift ended already Hyunjin?” he asks while fighting with the apron. A sigh escapes his mouth as he realizes just how tangled up the straps are.

“It has but I need you to do me a favor,” the younger states from his place on one of the boxes containing some kind of equipment.

Chan definitely doesn’t like where this is going.

"What is it," he ask cautiously. This situation reminds him too much of how he asked the younger to go to Minho's store.

"I need you to join a cult with me," Hyunjin says in the sweetest way possible and for a moment he is too stunned to process what he has just heard. "Jeongin told me about it today but I don't want to do it alone."

"I regret sending you there so much," Chan throws Hyunjin a judging look. "All I wanted was to know if Minho was a psychopath and now _you_ want me to join a cult?"

Hyunjin looks at him and Chan can see how hard he is trying to pull a kicked puppy look.  
"Minho's cult," the younger adds like that information would make it somehow better.

“Why would that convince me to join it?”  
Hyunjin pouts for a second before his face suddenly lights up and Chan feels a shiver run down his spine. Whatever the younger is about to say it isn’t good.

“Do it or I’ll tell Minho you have a crush on him.”

Chan has expected a lot of things but that never crossed his mind. He looks at Hyunjin in shock which slowly turns to horror.

“I don’t have a crush on Minho,” he manages to choke out.

Hyunjin raises an unimpressed eyebrow at him.

“You don’t? Well, whatever, you’re so slow. I know you _want_ to get to know him better, now that you no longer see him as this scary occult shop guy. This is your chance to do just that and me getting Innie to like me is a bonus too, I would totally stop whining as much.”

Chan takes a moment to process everything that Hyunjin has said.  
“Looking at the fact that Minho is, in fact, a cult leader I don’t know if my point still stands.”

"Oh but you are joining the cult with me right?" Hyunjin asks smugly because he knows he won. It all sounds crazy but at the end of the day, Chan would do it if it made Hyunjin happy.

And it just so happens that's exactly what Jeongin does.

So he agrees and when Hyunjin jumps around the shop happily he watches him with a resigned smile wondering how he is going to tell his roommate Woojin that he will be coming home late on some days because he has _cult meetings_.

Well, it turns out telling Woojin is not a problem at all.

"Cult meeting? Have fun," the older says from his desk, not even looking up from his notes which spread out in front of him.

He sounds unimpressed and Chan questions himself. Are they really not friends? Because any normal person would be concerned.

But maybe Chan just doesn't have normal friends.

Looking back at the fact that one of his supposed friends convinced him to join that cult in the first place and well, Minho _is_ kind of his friend too. And he is a cult leader.

So he just rolls his eyes and goes back to the movie he is watching.

✰✰✰

On Friday Hyunjin appears at his door just half an hour after Chan gets home. He opens the door with wild eyes so that the younger can go in but Hyunjin just shakes his head, grabs Chan’s hand and drags him out instead.

He even yells a “Hey Woojin hyung I’m kidnapping Chan hyung for a while see you later!” into the apartment before shutting the door.

Chan finally collects himself and turns his attention to the younger.  
“What the fuck do you think you are doing?”

Hyunjin lets go of his hand and looks at his palm as if Chan’s hand was dirty and left some kind of residue on his own. Which wasn’t the case.

“The first cult meeting is in half an hour,” Hyunjin says and takes his phone out of his pocket to flash something before Chan’s eyes way too fast for the older to actually read it. “Jeongin just texted me to come to the occult shop.”

Chan frowns and looks outside. It’s already way past the sunset, the city lights visible in full glory. It’s late.

“Are you sure? The shop should have closed a long time ago. Besides, why would it be so sudden? Minho was in the shop today and he didn’t say anything about a meeting.”

Hyunjin just shrugs.  
“Are you coming or not.”

Chan hesitates for a moment. This was his final chance to back out of this. But when he locks eyes with Hyunjin and thinks back to Minho’s curious eyes and his always present smirk he finds himself unable to say no.

“Yeah, I am.”

Hyunjin smiles at him and gestures for Chan to follow him into the dark of the night city.

✰✰✰

The walk to the occult shop definitely helps in setting the mood. Despite the city never sleeping and all the bright neon lights everywhere you look, the alleys they have to pass by are all dark.

The yogurt shop looks kind of scary in the dark too, like something that has been abandoned a long time ago. It looks nothing like the place that Chan has left after his shift not so long ago.

In contrast, the occult shop is the brightest place on the street at that hour. The lights inside are on and Chan is more than happy to finally set his foot inside after a rather uncomfortable walk in the dark.

Despite it being literally a cult meeting there are far more people than Chan imagined there would be.

The black chairs, probably taken from the backroom, are now arranged into a circle in the middle of the shop.  
There are a few candles lying here and there and Chan suspects that’s Jeongin’s idea.

Other than that, the occult shop looks just like Chan remembered it from that one time he visited. Which means dark stuff everywhere and black cat plushies in the most random places.

The air is filled with a smell of blueberries and forest and Chan can’t help but roll his eyes. Of course, the cursed _blueberries_.

In the middle of it all, there is a group of people sitting on the chairs.

The first person to notice their presence isn’t actually Minho, it’s Jeongin.

The younger gets up and hops to them way too enthusiastically.  
“You came!” he exclaims happily, his eyes on Hyunjin.

“Of course! Wouldn’t miss it for a world,” Hyunjin answers with just as much enthusiasm. It sounds more like he is about to take his dancing lessons rather than take part in a cult meeting. Love does strange things to people.

“You are just in time, we haven’t started yet,” Jeongin says to Hyunjin. Chan for once doesn’t mind being completely ignored.

He shifts his attention to the rest of the group sitting on the chairs.

Minho is already looking at him, his deep brown eyes almost gold in the light of the candle lying at his feet. His expression is a little bit surprised, lips parted slightly like he couldn’t proceed that they really came.

“I saved you a spot just in case you decided to show up,” he says and gestures to the chair on his left. The right one is the one Jeongin was occupying just a minute ago.

“You didn’t tell me the meeting is today,” he says to the younger as he sits down. He can’t help his voice getting a little bit sulky.

Minho sends him an apologetic look and then turns to Jeongin.  
“C’mon let's start,” he says and the younger rolls his eyes but in the end, he drags Hyunjin to sit in the circle too. Chan’s gaze is glued on his coworker as he sits down next to Jeongin on another saved seat.

“So, first of all, thank you all for coming,” Minho starts and looks around the room. He meets everyone's eyes one by one and when it's finally Chan's turn he smiles lightly. "Whatever your motivation for joining a cult might be, thank you."

They all nod at his words and Chan finally looks around himself to see who else is really here.

There is a dark-haired boy with a neutral expression next to Hyunjin and next to him a much smaller guy who looks quite excited. It's not all, there are about five more people here but those two catch his attention the most.

The dark-haired guy looks at him back an raises his eyebrows, disinterested. Chan wonders what is the guy doing here if he seems so bored by what's happening.

“That’s Seungmin and Jisung,” Minho whispers to him. Chan turns his head to the younger but he only laughs.

“This is the first meeting and the only one taking place in the shop,” Minho continues smoothly like nothing happened and gestures at Jeongin. The younger nods and takes something out from his bag. “The next one will take place tomorrow at the marked location. Of course, I’ll understand if you won’t be able to make it.”

Then he stands up and, one by one gives out small pieces of paper to every person present. Chan inspects the thing after Jeongin gives him his own with a smile.

It's a map.

"What's there?" Chan asks looking suspiciously at the map Minho has given them. The whole city is just a sketch, the younger marking only the most important places so that they can locate the meeting spot without bigger problems.

Opposite of him, Chan sees Seungmin roll his eyes after giving the map one brief glance.  
"Isn't that a little bit much?" he asks Minho and when the other seizes him with a glaring stare he sighs. "Okay if you want to do it like this, fine."

"I want it to _work_," Minho says in a calm voice.

Well, Chan is lost and judging from Hyunjin's expression he has no idea what's going on either.

On the other side of the room, Jisung lays his hands on Seungmin's shoulders with a small smile and they whisper something to each other. Chan briefly wonders if they are dating.

"Jisung and Jeongin you are going with me," Seungmin says in a voice that doesn't take 'no' for an answer.

Then he turns his attention to Chan and Hyunjin.  
"I'll send you a map that makes more sense if you need it."

Chan's gaze shifts to Minho who is still looking at Seungmin but no longer with a murderous gaze.

"Thanks but I think we will be fine."

Minho turns to him with surprise. He eyes the map in Chan's hands, the small red X in the middle of it and then his gaze shifts to Chan's face.

There is a moment of silence but Minho doesn't say anything.

“Okay,” Jeongin finally says and the strange atmosphere that has filled the room just a moment ago vanishes. “See you guys tomorrow.”

And with that, the meeting ends.

✰✰✰

Fortunately the next day neither Chan nor Hyunjin have work.

The pure confidence of the cult meeting falling on when they are both free makes Chan question if maybe Minho has the seventh sense after all. A pretty useless skill of telling when Chan is busy and when he is free. But no matter the cause of this, both Chan and Hyunjin are pleased with the outcome.

They decide to meet outside Chan’s apartment complex and drive to the place mysteriously marked on the map together. Well, more like Chan will drive them there and Hyunjin will talk about Jeongin nonstop for the 30 minutes the ride is supposed to take.

But when Chan finally arrives at the meeting spot it’s not only Hyunjin who greets him. The parking lot is definitely too loud for this time of a day, everything thanks to five energetic students.

“What are they doing here?” Chan asks, eyeing the rest suspiciously. They pay no attention to him, instead looking at something one of them is showing the others on his phone.

"I convinced Jeno and Jaemin to come. Donghyuck and Renjun wanted to come too as soon as they heard what we are doing," Hyunjin says gesturing to the boys in question.

“Is that fine with Jeongin and Minho?” Chan asks as the others get into the car.  
He knows the boys from college, they are first years just like Hyunjin.

The said boy rolls his eyes before taking the last free seat in the car and slamming the door shut.  
“Of course, the more people the better. Jeongin’s words, not mine."

“Okay, okay,” Chan says and gets into the vehicle himself. “Fasten your seatbelts guys. We have a cult meeting to get too.”

✰✰✰

Even in his wildest dreams, Chan wouldn’t be able to predict any of this.

The place he expects to find when they finally find the location marked on the map is some kind of an old, haunted house. It would fit the whole occult theme perfectly. He can only imagine sitting in a circle and using an ouija board or maybe exploring an abodment hospital in groups in hopes of finding something interesting.

What waits for them at the location is the exact opposite of everything Chan has imagined.  
The place is crowded and it leaves all of them speechless.

They are at an animal shelter.

“Are you sure that’s it?” Hyunjin asks in a small voice. Chan looks at the younger, expecting to see shock or maybe even disappointment on his face. Instead, he finds a smile replacing the initial surprise. 

“Yeah, you _are_ in the right place,” comes a voice from behind them.  
They both turn around at the same time to find Seungmin and Jisung standing behind them.

Based on the unimpressed looks on their faces, Chan guesses they both knew where they were going to meet from the start. Which makes a lot of sense when he thinks back to their reactions to the map Minho handed them yesterday.

“We were worried you would get lost looking for some creepy looking house or something,” Seungmin says and comes closer to them. “I told Jeongin and Minho the map wasn’t the best idea but I guess it worked anyway.”

“You even brought more people,” Jisung gives Donghyuck and the gang a smile.

“We were expecting some kind of a ghost haunting but this is even better,” the younger answers with a wicked smile, looking at the animals that are outside.

“So many cats,” adds Jeno in awe and the rest of his friends throw him concerned looks.

“You are allergic, you do realize,” Renjun sounds tired like it’s something he has been telling the other for years. Which is possible.

“And Jaemin is lactose intolerant yet he drinks so much milk,” Jeno deadpans and everyone's gaze shifts to Jaemin for a moment.

“Let’s just go,” the boy says and that snaps them back to why they are even here.

“Minho and Jeongin are already inside,” Seungmin guides them through the door and then through the corridors back outside.

The way he takes turns without any thought and the happy ‘hello’s he gives to everyone they pass by makes Chan think he knows this place well.

Which makes sense because it’s hard to imagine the shelter as just a random spot Jeongin and Minho picked up as their meeting spot by accident.

But why a cult? It honestly made no sense to Chan whatsoever but he guesses he will have to just ask Minho about it later.

Speaking of Minho, the younger and Jeongin are standing at the far corner of the outside area, near what Chan thinks might be cat's area.

As soon as they notice them, the two leave the animals and turn to them fully with tense expressions.

“Surprised, aren’t you?” Minho asks while scanning the group. His eyes stop for a moment on Donghyuck and the rest but other than raised eyebrows and a small smile he doesn't comment on the new addition to the cult.

“I suppose I own you an explanation,” he says and for a moment his eyes meet Chan’s. “The cult was kind of a bait. I know a lot of people are interested in occult so I thought we could use that to try and get more people to help here. Fitting if you look at where I and Jeongin work. There are definitely more people interesting in helping some stray ghosts than stray cats and dogs.”

“We wanted to do something,” Jeongin picks up right where Minho left off. “We know this shelter like the back off our hands and we thought that even if a single person came and wanted to help it would be worth a shot.”

“I never expected so many people turning up,” Minho finishes and looks around. “Of course, you don’t have to stay but even hanging out with the animals would make a difference.”

“What are you talking about?” Donghyuck asks in a loud voice. Truth to be told, everything about Donghyuck is loud which makes the whole group turn to him with questioning gazes. “Of course we would help. Frankly, this is so much better than some occult stuff. Who cares about ghosts, am I right?”

Everyone, one by one, starts to nod and soon there are big smiles on both Jeongin’s and Minho’s faces.

“Okay,” Minho says relieved. “Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jisung, you go with Jeongin. The rest,” he looks straight at Chan. “You are coming with me. We are in charge of dogs today.”

After that, there are no more questions and everyone gets to work with big smiles on their faces.

✰✰✰

The week leading up to the next meeting goes smoothly. Too smoothly, if you asked Chan but to his surprise, there isn’t a catastrophe waiting for him at the end of it this time.

On Sunday, just like the last time, he meets up with Hyunjin and the others to go to the shelter.  
Everyone's mood is good, the banter in the car getting louder and louder the closer to their destination they get.

When they finally walk through the door they are greeted with smiles from everyone else. Not only the rest of the ‘cult’ but also the shelter staff gives them a warm ‘hello’.

The others are already working, occasional laughter bursting through the overall quiet day.  
Chan can spot Minho’s and Jeongin’s silhouettes in the distance, coming back from the dog section.

But before the two can reach them Seungmin jogs up to where they are standing.

“Hey! Glad you could make it,” he says with a small smile. “And so many of you again,” he adds when he scans their whole group. “I think Jisung could use help with the dogs since Minho and Jeongin are going to the cats now.”

And with that Donghyuck and the rest of his group disappear, with a little too much enthusiasm if you ask Chan, to help Jisung.

“Jeongin and Minho seem very attached to the cats,” Hyunjin notes as the pair passes by them with a fast wave of and a quick 'hello', before speeding to the cat section.

Now that they are left with only Seungmin, Chan feels himself relax a little. Donghyuck and the rest of his squad are too loud and devil-like for his liking. Well, apart from Jeno of course.

Seungmin, on the other hand, seems like a pretty serious and quiet guy. At first glance at least.

“I guess you could say they are both cat people. Minho has three cats and Jeongin has Sol.”

Chan has already known about the first part of that sentence but the fact that the younger also has a cat makes Chan see him in a completely different light. Although he guesses the whole cult thing has already flipped his view of the younger upside down.

Jeongin is still a mystery to him but a less scary one now.

“Yeah, he has told me about Sol before. It’s not that I don’t like cats, I think they are adorable but I’m allergic to them," Hyunjin scratches at the back of his neck with an embarrassed smile.

That makes Chan laugh and Seungmin turns to him with a surprised look on his face.  
“And yet you still helped with the cats last week?” he asks, probably not sure if Hyunjin is really that dedicated or just crazy.

“It’s not really that bad,” he says and waves his hands in embarrassment. Chan frowns because that’s a straight-up lie. He has seen Hyunjin’s allergic reaction before and it isn’t pretty and it isn’t small. “I just can’t own one, that’s why I have a dog, but I'm fine with helping.”

Chan wonders how bad Hyunjin’s allergy has been for the last few days and he wants to kick himself for not checking on the younger.

But when he turns to his coworker, Hyunjin gives him a small smile and another hand wave. It’s obvious the younger doesn’t want Chan to expose him so he decides to stay quiet.

“Oh, you do? I have a dog too,” Seungmin looks at Hyunjin with more interest than before.  
“Yeah,” Hyunjin, too, seems more enthusiastic now. He looks at the younger boy before him with shining eyes. “The name is Kkami. I can see why Jeongin prefers cats but dogs are amazing too, am I right?”

"Jeongin is good at heart and he really cares about the animals here, not just cats Hyunjin," Seungmin briefly throws a glance at his best friend, making sure he is at a distance where he won't hear them.

The younger is occupied with helping Minho distribute food to cats and Chan can't help but smile at their enthusiasm. He feels motivated to make a change too, and maybe just maybe, he can get a pet for himself in the process.

Thought of doing that has never occupied his mind before but looking at all the love and effort the two put into what they do makes him wonder. He can't shake it off.

"He spends almost half of his incoming from the shop on the shelter. He doesn't need to work during holidays but he wants to because he cares," after another moment of silence Seungmin adds. "Maybe a little too much sometimes."

Hyunjin hums something under his breath and then with a big smile on his face makes his way to Jeongin. They talk for a moment and the younger gives up some of the cat food and gestures to the animals that need to be feed.

"Quite a sign isn't it?" Seungmin laughs at Chan's startled expression. He has been too deep in his thoughts about Minho, Jeongin and all of this.

His gaze wanders and stops at Minho who's observing the duo with a smile on his face. A sincere one this time instead of his usual twisted smirks. Chan likes this one a lot more than he probably should.

"Yeah, it is," Chan agrees in a distant voice which earns him raised eyebrows from the other.  
"You know I'm not talking about Minho right?" he asks with a smirk that can be clearly heard in his voice.

"I know," Chan scowls. As much as distracting Minho is, he is not that gone yet. And he cares about Hyunjin a lot.

Seungmin's face goes back to neutral, the younger satisfied with his answer.

"I care about Jeongin a lot and I'm not the only one obviously, but the thing is, most people tend to step away when they discover his interest in the occult. Which, speaking of, comes more from his fascination with history than wanting to sacrifice babies or some dumb shit like that. And he also loves the idea of magic but to be honest what he does here," Seungmin makes a wild gesture to point at all the animals. "It is already magic. I got my dog from here you know? She was one of Jeongin's first proteges."

Chan looks to Seungmin, who's eyes are glued to Jeongin. This is someone who knows the younger well and just like Chan suspected, there's a lot more to the pink haired boy than what meets the eye.

Hyunjin choose well.

"I'm glad he found someone like Hyunjin to always cheer him up and look past all the weird stuff that he does sometimes."

And with that Seungmin finishes and disappears into thin air and with him, Jeongin goes too.

✰✰✰

Hyunjin, Chan, and Minho wrap up the rest of the work quietly. It's tiring but the happy purrs of the cats and enthusiastic waggings of the dogs' tails is worth it.

And Minho's warm smile is also a nice bonus.

"I adopted Dori just a few months ago," Minho says as he feeds the next cat. They are making their way down the aisle slowly, patting each animal before turning to the next.

The black cat Chan remembers feeding stares at him and even purrs when he gives it their portion. He laughs softly at the animal.

Minho stops next to him.  
"I think Saja likes you," he says and then leans in to pat the black cat too.

"Saja?" he asks and looks Saja in the eyes. They are yellow with brown freckles. The cat doesn't look away and Chan smirks. "It does fit actually."

Minho laughs and Chan can feel his heart beat faster.  
"I know, I named her. They found her when she was little so she was basically raised there," Minho stops and Chan knows he is staring at the younger but he can't stop. "No one wants to adopt her. Maybe it's the piercing gaze or maybe they are just stupid."

Chan finally tears his eyes from Minho and looks back to Saja.

There is this sudden urge in him that tells him to take the cat with him. He knows how to care for one now and Woojin has always wanted a pet too.

He feels Minho's gaze on himself as he reaches out to pet the cat again before taking a deep breath.  
"I'm going to take her," he says before he can change his mind.

Minho gives him a shocked look but Chan’s gaze is still on Saja. They stare at each other for a moment in silence before Minho’s voice disturbs them.

“Are you _sure_?”

“Yeah,” Chan answers and then whispers to the cat. “I’m taking you home.”

And he does.

✰✰✰

Taking care of a cat is surprisingly both easier and harder than he had imagined.

Saja and Woojin hit it off very well so that's a relief. The only one the cat has a hard time accepting is Hyunjin. When the younger comes around for the first time he must be smelling too much of Kkami or something along these lines because Saja hisses at him and waves her paw as if to say hello which makes Chan laugh.

Of course, that's not the reason and the closer Hyunjin gets, trying to pet the new addiction to Chan's little family, the more unhappy Saja gets.

So after some time he just stops and after a short chat with Chan and Woojin he leaves.

Thankfully, the story is completely different the second time around because Saja welcomes him with purring, having changed her mind when it comes to the younger.

Chan watches Hyunjin play with Saja and he smiles to himself.

Taking care of the cat is hard when he gets scratches all over his arms or when he by accident steps on her tail on his way to the bathroom at night.

But the soft purr next to him late at night when he just can't force himself to fall asleep is so worth it.

✰✰✰

Somehow, Hyunjin is equally as skilled at making Chan's life a mess as Minho is.

Well, he is exaggerating this time because what the younger asks for is just a small thing that doesn't really ruin his plans or anything.

But it still is something that disturbs his routine so it counts.

"I need your promised free yogurts tomorrow," Hyunjin states and slaps a hand on the counter before him.

Chan looks up from his order list. There's so much stuff on it he has trouble deciding which one to do first. How comes the shop is so busy all of a sudden? Chan has no idea.

He notices the younger's messy hair and the way his eyes are literally sparkling.

"What's the occasion?" he asks, straightening his back.

Hyunjin sends him a wide smile before answering.

"I asked Jeongin out and he agreed! Can you believe this hyung," the last part is more of a statement than a question but Chan feels the need to answer anyway.

"I can. It was pretty obvious he likes you too."

Hyunjin rolls his eyes but the smile never disappears from his face.  
"Just like everyone can tell Minho likes you?"

Chan wants to reach over the counter and strangle Hyunjin so bad but he is a good person so he doesn't.

Instead, he waves Hyunjin off with a fast "Yeah yeah," before going back to making orders.

The younger smirks at him but doesn't make his way to the door yet.

"We will be there tomorrow at around 10 a.m."  
And with that, the bell above the door rings as Hyunjin happily almost jumps out of the shop.

Chan sighs but smiles for the rest of his shift, trying to figure out which one of his specialties to serve the pair the next day.

✰✰✰

Before long the next day arrives and Chan is stood behind the same counter for the nth time this summer.

Around 9 a.m Minho comes around to ask about Saja again. They chat for a bit about cats, the next cult meeting and life in general.

Minho tells him about how some crazy lady, who the younger suspects really believes in witches and all that crazy stuff, came into their shop last night and bought about 200 blueberry candles.

At this point, Chan's only reaction is a raised eyebrow and a weak "Really?". He can't imagine working there and getting all the strange customers. From Minho's stories, he knows Jeongin loves the weird accidents. Minho not so much.

"I heard our coworkers are dating now," somehow the conversation ends up at Jeongin and Hyunjin. Chan doesn't even know how it happens. Talking to Minho is so natural.

He adds strawberry syrup to the order he is currently making.  
"It's just a date, I'm not sure if they are _dating_ yet," he says and adds gummy bears which finishes the yogurt. "Order number 23!" he calls out and a young girl with pigtails comes up to collect the dessert.

"It would be nice, wouldn't it? I would finally stop hearing all about Hyunjin's soft hair and his eye smile each time I meet up with Jeongin."

Chan laughs as he looks at the list again and grabs a fresh cup for the new order.

"You think the talking will stop? I bet it will only get worse. But I know what you mean, I'm pretty sure I don't need a reminder how, apparently amazing, Jeongin's fascination with occult is. I can agree his smile is adorable and I would too kill for it to never disappear but the first one is quite alarming."

Minho stares at him for a few seconds and then bursts into laughter. Chan wants to give himself a pat on the back.

Truth to be told, at this point, he doesn't deny his crush on Minho any longer. It's pretty obvious even to him that he likes the younger.

But will this make him do something as bold as confessing?

He throws a glance at the other boy and he feels his lips curl up in a soft smile. He isn't risking this new friendship. Not yet.

"Guess we will have to find out then," Minho says and then looks down on his phone. The younger's eyes open wilder in shock as he reads something on it. "Shit! It's almost 10 a.m already and I promised Jeongin I'll take over the shop so he can go on that date."

He looks up at Chan with an apologetic expression.  
"I gotta go. Have fun with the lovebirds."

Chan grimaces but waves Minho off and the other runs out the shop. He can't imagine what Jeongin's wrath is like. He doesn't wanna know.

✰✰✰

About 20 minutes after that the bell above the door rings again and Chan's head snaps from an orange yogurt he is currently making to look at the newcomers.

There in the door stands Hyunjin, Jeongin a step behind him.

Chan has never seen the younger look like this before. It's pretty obvious how hard he tried with his black hair in a perfectly styled mess and eyeliner in place.

It's clear Jeongin tried too because even through his classic ripped jeans are still there there is this extra touch in his hairstyle and the accessories.

Chan sighs. He wonders is they are aware that they are in a yogurt shop not some fancy restaurant.

"Hey there, what base do you want?" he asks when they approach him.

Jeongin scans the menu and then looks to his date.  
"I'll have the blueberry one."

Chan wants to laugh at the similarity of that statement. Does this run in the occult shop's employee's blood?

"I'll have the strawberry," Hyunjin finally says and looks at Chan suspiciously. "You're not gonna ask about our toppings?"

Chan shakes his head and grabs two empty cups from under the counter. He points to the nearest table with both of his hands.

"Nope. You two sit down. If I'm losing money on this you're getting the best combination possible."

Jeongin raises his eyebrows but there is a smile lingering on his lips.  
"And that is?"

"A surprise," Chan says and moves to the machines to finally get started.

As he adds toppings and such he observes the duo chatting happily over the plastic table he sat them at. They look happy as Jeongin explains something to Hyunjin with his wild gesticulation and Hyunjin's eyes shine brightly with curiosity.

Then, instead of calling them to pick their orders, he delivers the yogurts personally. They stop their conversation to look up to him and thank him for the desserts.

He smiles at them and nods before going back to the counter to work on his next order. The two resume their conversation.

✰✰✰

Slowly Chan forgets about their presence as more and more time passes and he finds himself getting lost in new orders and his thoughts. What would it be like to go on a date with Minho? He doesn't have an answer to this and so he shuts that thought down before it can take roots in his mind and bother him until he finds out.

Hyunjin and Jeongin finally finish their date, cups from the yogurts long forgotten, and come back to the counter to say their goodbyes.

"That was so good, thank you hyung," Jeongin says with that big dimpled smile of his.

"It was," Hyunjin joins in and smiles brightly at Chan too. "Thank you for doing this for me."

Chan laughs and waves them off.  
"I promised. Now go for a walk or something kids and let me work in peace," then he turns his head to Hyunjin. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Hyunjin's eyes open wilder.  
"But my shift today? The last two hours and the closing—"

"Don't bother, I'll close the shop," Chan says and when Hyunjin gets ready to protest he waves at them more angrily. "No protesting, now go away."

Jeongin's eyes meet Chan's and the younger boy nods in understanding. He grabs Hyunjin's hand and despite the other's resistance drags him out of the shop.

A few costumers stare at the scene with a mild interest in their eyes but Chan doesn't really mind.

✰✰✰

It's not like it really matters to him but he is sort of surprised than Minho hasn't visited him yet to check on Saja himself. It's been a good two weeks and apart from asking about her, there was nothing more.

And well, Minho knows where Chan lives. He has driven him home after one of the cult meetings at the shelter. He hasn't gone inside even through Chan proposed him free coffee and blueberry cupcakes but he still knew the address.

It's only on the two weeks mark that Minho corners him after another day at the shelter. Chan watches Hyunjin, Jeongin and Seungmin go ahead while chatting enthusiastically before he turns his attention to the boy who grabbed his shoulder.  
"Minho?" he asks in a questioning voice.

"I can drive you home," the younger offers and gestures to his car. "And maybe also check on Saja?"

Chan smiles and nods.

Minho relaxes and when they start making their way to the vehicle he laughs a little.  
"I didn't want you to think I thought you wouldn't be able to take care of her but I'm still curious how she is doing. And I miss her."

Chan laughs and sends Minho a reassuring smile.  
"It's fine. To be honest I'm surprised you didn't ask sooner."

✰✰✰

The ride is peaceful. Well as peaceful as a ride can be when there is rock music blasting and Minho singing with the vocalist the whole time. Chan knows that Minho can sing but the younger doesn't try to sound good he just screams the lyrics as loud as he can.

Chan joins him occasionally when he knows the words and each time he does Minho gives him an encouraging smile.

After about half an hour they finally pull up into a parking lot next to Chan's apartment building.  
They make their way through the empty car park and then climb the stair to Chan's door.

"Woojin is out with some friends," Chan informs the younger before turning the key in the lock and letting them in.

Just behind the door waits Saja, optimistic as ever at the sign of Minho. She runs up to the younger and purrs while rubbing against his legs.

Minho laughs softly before reaching down to pet her and then removes his shoes.

"You want coffee? Tea?" Chan asks and goes up to the kitchen leaving Minho with Saja in his bedroom.

"Coffee would be great!" Minho almost screams from the other room and not even a minute later Saja appears in the kitchen, probably escaping Minho after the loud noise.

"He is quite an interesting person, isn't he?" Chan says to her while he searches for some normal looking cups. Most of the ones he possesses have some kind of abstract paintings on them and Woojin's have philosophy quotes so he skips them completely. He finally settles for two matching ones with koalas on them and he is fairly sure they are Hyunjin's. What are they doing there? Chan has no idea.

"I'm interesting you say," asks a voice from just behind Chan and the older man feels himself freeze. He tightens his grip on the cups to make sure he doesn't let go by accident.

"Now _you_ are spying on me?" he asks and tries to keep his voice as casual as he can.

Minho raises an eyebrow at him and there is a smirk slowly creeping onto his lips.  
"You _invited_ me here I don't think it counts as spying."

"Details, details," Chan says with a laugh but it stops abruptly when Minho doesn't join him.

The younger stays still, smirk gone. His eyes are focused on Chan and he feels his shoulders tense under Minho's careful gaze.

"I think you're interesting too. And funny and caring and so many different things," the younger says firmly but when Chan tries to catch his eyes he looks away.

"I would have kissed you when you said you wanted to adopt Saja but I had to stop myself. I needed to know if you would treat her right before starting anything with you," Minho states like he wasn't in the middle of confessing. "Can't afford to date someone who can't take care of my three cats."

"You say all of this like you are sure I want to date you," Chan says stupidly, still in shock at Minho's words.

Minho laughs and crosses his arms over his chest.  
"You have been staring at me so much Channie hyung."

Chan swallows hard at the nickname but Minho doesn't comment on it. 

"I wasn't really sure if you wanted to date or just you know," he trails off with raised eyebrows. "But then you decided to join the cult even if just because of Hyunjin's crush on Jeongin. I expected you to stop coming after one or two times but you didn't. You helped us so much and I figured that even if you didn't want to date it was still worth a shot."

Minho stops for a moment and looks at Chan, searching for some kind of reaction. The older is still frozen in place, his hands colder than the stupid yogurts Minho loves so much.

"Because I really like you Christopher Bang," he finishes and Chan finally snaps out of it.

"My name sounds so stupid when you say it like this. Nobody has called me that in a long time," he says and his gaze locks with Minho's. "But I guess I like how it sounds when _you_ say it."

Minho raises an eyebrow but there is a smirk forming on his lips and Chan's hands itch to reach and grab onto the younger's shoulders and maybe kiss him.

He stops his train of thoughts.  
"I like you too, cult leader Lee Minho."

"Stop with the cult," Minho says as he steps closer and it's Chan's turn to smirk.  
"What if I don't want to? What if I like it?" he asks in almost a whisper now, Minho standing close enough to hear.

The younger stops just a few centimeters away.  
"You better," his voice is barely a whisper. Chan feels it on his cheek. "Because I'm not planning on stopping that cult."

Chan rolls his eyes and leans in to end Minho's nonsense talk.

✰✰✰

Maybe it’s stupid or maybe it’s not but on his last day at work for the summer he takes Minho on a date to the yogurt shop.

He tells Hyunjin their orders in advance because, even if he knows Minho’s order like the back of his hand, the younger has never actually made it before.

“This time I’ll not be the one preparing your order,” he tells the younger the day before when he visits the shop.

“So is this,” there Minho points at the yogurt in his hands. “The last one prepared by you I’m gonna get?”

“I guess it is,” Chan looks at the dark mass of the blueberry yogurt Minho loves so much.  
He is going to miss this. The yogurt shop, having Hyunjin around so much and of course Minho, Jeongin and their occult stuff. “Are you stopping the cult, now that the school year is almost there?”

He has been wondering about it for a long time and judging by Minho’s expression so was the younger.

“No,” Minho finally answers. “I’m going to keep going and so, obviously, is Jeongin. I don’t know about the others and I’m not forcing you to come with us or anything but that is something I’m passionate about and I’m not about to give it up because of some stupid college.”

Chan laughs at how much _Minho_ that statement is.  
“Are you kidding? I thought you already noticed how much we all love doing this. University might be hard but I’m not quitting that cult so easily.”

“I see,” Minho says softly and Chan just wants to lean in and kiss him.

This may not be very ethical, kissing people while you are on your shift in front of some children but if anything, Minho has taught him not to care too much about what others think.

And so he just does it.

Minho’s smile is totally worth the trouble.

✰✰✰

The date goes smoothly. They talk a lot and Chan makes it his mission to make Minho laugh as much as possible.

Saja is a subject of a lot of the conversations and somehow they come to the conclusion that it will be a good idea to get her to meet Minho’s cats.

“Dori will love her I’m sure of that,” the younger says while trying to get the last bits of his yogurt out of the cup. “ And so will Soonie and Doongie.”

“We can do it,” Chan says, already imagining the cats running around and the two of them trying to catch up to them. He laughs. “Although that might go wrong very fast.”

Minho joins him in laughing.  
From the corner of his eye, he can see Hyunjin looking at them with a soft smile. How much does this mirror the younger’s date with Jeongin not so long ago, it’s crazy.

Chan turns his attention back to his date only to find Minho already looking at him.  
“So are you going to kiss me or what?” the younger asks and raises an eyebrow.

And this time, since he is off duty, he simply complies.

✰✰✰

After the last day at the yogurt shop the academic year finally starts and even though he is tired and doesn’t feel fully ready for the new challenges waiting for him he goes into it with a smile on his face.

Over the span of that summer, Chan learns that there's nothing really magical about the occult shop, nor the boys that work there.

With Hyunjin and Jeongin going on ice cream dates and taking care of Kkami and Sol together and Minho at his side, occupying his usual spot in the yogurt shop all summer and then his favorite place in the library in the fall, Chan learns to look for magic in people's hearts and not some odd overpriced objects.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow that was a long one hah~
> 
> if you enjoyed, kudos and comments always make my day so maybe consider leaving something behind hehe~
> 
> anyway that's it from me, have a good day!! :D


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